An Explanation of Eulers Identity Explaining Eulers Identity 2 = 1 requires examining several concepts...

1. The idea of imaginary number i.

that 2 = 1 . However, we find no solution among the real numbers, so mathematicians developed the concept of an imaginary number , where 2 = 1. The resulting number system is known as the Complex Numbers, where a complex number = + , where and are real numbers. Second, let us define a point in the complex plane. We start by illustrating what it means to multiply by i, geometrically. First, look at the real number line, a geometry with which we are more familiar.

First, we introduce the imaginary number, . If we solve the equation 2 + 1 = 0, we get

We have a horizontal line containing all the real numbers, with the positive reals to the right of the origin and the negative reals the left of the origin. Now let us look at number , a positive symmetric about the origin on the number line, thus if we rotate number 180 we will get . So we see that multiplying by -1 is the same as rotating 180. rotate 90then rotate another 90 to end at 180or multiplying by 1. Let us call a rotation of But now let us look at what happens when we want to rotate to 1 by using 2 rotations, so distance from to the origin is the same as the distance from to the origin, so the points are real number. If we multiply by -1 we get number , the additive inverse of . We know that the

Then if we rotate and then rotate again we get

90 the same as multiplying by , just as a rotation of 180 is the same as multiplying by 1.

r =1.

Now to solve for it seems logical to take the square root of both sides, so

= 1

or

2 = 1.

We know that i = 1 so a rotation of 90 must be equal to multiplying by i.

Cartesian plane ( plane) we have a problem because both the axis and the axis are real number lines. There is no place to put a complex number. What happens is that we get a whole new graphing system, known as the complex plane, where the horizontal axis is the real number the same as rotating 90 if we take the real horizontal axis and multiply the entire line by , we get the imaginary vertical axis. line and the vertical axis is the imaginary number line. Since we know that multiplying by is

Now back to complex numbers, let us consider = + . When we go to plot this on the

This means that we can represent any point = + as a point in the complex plane, where the value determines the distance moved in the horizontal direction and the value of plane represents a coordinate, or two values (an value and a value). For now we define e such that e = limn 1 + n . What is 1 + n ?
1 n 1 n

determines the distance moved in the vertical (imaginary) direction. It is important to note that in the complex plane each point represents an individual value, whereas a point in the Cartesian 2. The number and the derivative of function () = .
1 n

Let us look at the number first. The number can be expressed in several different ways.

Using binomial theorem we expand 1 + n . 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 + = 1 ()0 + 11 ()1 + 12 ()2 + 13 ()3 + + 10 () 0 3 1 2 = 1 + 1! ()1 + =1+1+
1 2!
1

Now, when , 0. Then

1 1 1

(1 )(1 ) 3!

(1) 1 2 () 2!
2

++

1 1 (1 !

(1)(2) 1 3 () 3!
1 2

(1) )

+ +

(1)(2)..321 1 () !

(1 + ) = 1 + 1 + 2! + 3! + =

 lim (1 + ) =
1
1

If we let = then we get lim0 (1 + ) = lim (1 + ) . That means = lim0 (1 + ) Now we define the derivative of () = . According to the definition of derivative,

derivation is a measure of how a functions values change as its input changes. Let = (). Then = ( + ) () = + = ( 1)
( 1)

( 1)

= lim0 = lim0

Let 1 = . Then = + 1 ln = ln( + 1) = ln( + 1) So lim0

lim0 1 1

= lim0

----------------(1)

When = , then do on both sides.

Therefore, 0 when 0.

= lim0 ln(+1) = lim0 ln(+1)/ = lim0 1

ln lim0 (+1) 1
1

ln(+1)

= lim0

1 ln(+1)

ln(+1)

From the above ( = lim0 (1 + ) ), we know lim0 ( + 1) = . So lim0

1

Now we turn back to (1). = lim0

= ln = 1 = 1 -----------(2)

, but we change the base b to e. Then we have

 = lim0

Plug in (2) to (1), then we have = 1 =

the only exponential function whose derivative is the same as the function itself.

Thus the derivative of is . This is probably the most important property of () = , it is But what happens when we generalize this real valued function to also take in complex

numbers? We want to preserve the property that the function has its own derivative. Now when dealing with functions of real numbers, we can only vary the value of the input variable, the function whose input are complex numbers, we can change look at how the function varies as , = + we can have either + the exponential property (+ = ) also holds

independent variable, by changing the value of that input . However when we instead look at

the real part, changes, or as , the imaginary part changes. So if we have a complex number for complex and imaginary numbers so + = and thus + = by properties of derivative. Now since does not depend on , as changes does not change at all, it is constant and thus = 1. Now is saying what is the derivative of where is a real number. This is what we showed above, and we said it is the function itself. So

Now plugging this into = 1 = .

= .

as varies will remain the same and thus = 1. Now since we know that in the real numbers

Now if we look at + = ( ) = . Since does not depend on ,

= 1 = .

the derivative, it means that the value of the derivative is the value of the function at a 90 to where we started, instead we just move in a constant circle. rotation. Since we are always moving at an 90 angle, we are never getting further away or closer

We know from above that the multiplying by is the same as rotating90. So if we look at

= and since

= in the complex plane,

= . So thus

The Unite circle in the Cartesian plane and in the Complex Plane The unite circle on the Cartesian plane is a circle with radius 1.

3. The unit circle, radians, and .

We know that the distance formula is = (2 1 )2 + (2 1 )2 . Because the radius is 1, one.

= 1. Therefore, any line that starts at the origin and ends at a point on the circle must be length angle), the cosine function returns the ratio of the length of adjacent side to the length of the
adjacent

On the other hand, we know that for any angle in a right triangle (where is not the right

ratio of the length of opposite side to the length of hypotenuse. That is sin(x) = hypotenuse. As the pictures showing below, when a point is on the unit circle, the hypotenuse of the right triangle which is radius, is equal to 1. Therefore, the x-coordinate of a point on the unit circle is for any angle. equal to the cosine of the angle and likewise the -coordinate is equal to the since of the angle,

hypotenuse. That is cos() = hypotenuse. By the same measure, the sine function returns the
opposite

The same property holds in the complex plane. We can rewrite all points + as (, ) and plane represents one number. That is known as polar form. Let us look back at the complex number + .

thus ( cos , sin ) cos + sin since we know that every coordinate in the complex

We said before that the complex number + = and thus this must be equivalent to the value in polar form. So = cos + sin = (cos + sin ) . Now is a real number since is a real number, thus = , the only real part in polar form. the radius, = 0 = 1 for all possible values of .

So = cos + isin . Now in the complex number we are interested in 2 , = 0 and thus That means that the values of map onto a circle in the complex plane with radius 1. This means that for every value of we are always 1 unit away from the origin of the circle.

just a rotation. Thus it stays a constant distance, 1, from the radius. This implies that we are looking at a circle with radius 1 and that the magnitude of and is 1 for all values of .

of change is , which is equal to , there is not a component that brings it closer to the origin,

Another way to think about this is to look again at when = 0 so at 0 = 1. Since the rate

Since is always changing, we can assume that every point along the circle represents some

value and as changes we move around the circle. But how do we know what relation the

1 for all values of , the length of must also be 1 just at a 90angle from . This implies this means that the rate at which the function is changing, or the magnitude of the derivative, that the rate of change has the same magnitude, or length, of , just moving at a 90 angle. So is the same as the amount the independent variable has changed. So we know that we need to go all the way around a circle with radius 1, or 2 units around the circle. Since we know that the rate or the speed we are moving at is the same as the amount has changed, we know must be Another way to think about this is to take the real number line of all possible values of . Now also make a circle with radius 1 centered about the origin of the complex plane. For every 1 unit circumference is equal to 2r, or 2 units so we have to move 2 units around the circle, and thus 2 units on the real number line. Since is our only input value, it must correspond directly to change of distance in the range must correspond to the change of distance in the domain. the angle measure. Since there are 2 radians in a circle and we must move 2 units. So the you move on the real line, also move 1 unit around the circle. Since the circle has radius 1, the the number of radians we have rotated in the counterclockwise direction from the positive x-axis.

value has to the location on the circle? Since the derivative of is and the length of is

Radians and 2

Let us look at what a radian is. Taking any circle with center at the vertex of the angle, a radian measure of the angle is equal to the ratio of the length of the subtended arc to the radius of the circle. What happen when we look at the entire circle? How can we calculate the arc length of the circle? Well, the arc length is equal to the circumference and the circumference of a circle is equal to 2. If the circle is a unit circle, which means the radius is 1, then the circumference is which is 2. equal to 2. According to the definition of radian, the number of radians is equal to the arc length,

Eulers Identity =

after rotating from the positive horizontal axis 2 radians, we get the value of 2 . means that = cos + isin . If we plug in our desired value 2, then we get 2 = cos(2) + sin(2) = 1 + (0) = 1.

Let us back to we are interested complex number 2 . From the pictures above we see that

In above we got = cos + isin . Now we know that is equal to out input . So this

PS: if you are interested in another way to prove Eulers identity using calculus, you can go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euler%27s_formula.